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More Than 14,000 Wisconsin Borrowers Who Lost Their Homes to Foreclosure to Receive Payments Under National Mortgage Settlement

MADISON — Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that more than $21.85 million dollars will be distributed to 14,723 Wisconsin residents who lost their homes to foreclosure. Payments are expected to be at least $1,480 for each foreclosed home. These payments are one aspect of relief under the National Mortgage Settlement, and will be mailed to eligible borrowers from June 10-17. Eligible borrowers include homeowners who lost their home to foreclosure from 2008-2011 to one of the five settling servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase or Wells Fargo), and submitted a claim earlier this year. Nationally, the settlement administrator will mail valid claim payments to 962,278 loan records. For questions about eligibility, contact the settlement administrator at 1-866-430-8358, or send questions by email to administrator@nationalmortgagesettlement.com.

“These payments were negotiated to help remedy the widespread foreclosure abuses of 2008-2011. During the settlement negotiations, we pushed for a meaningful payment for borrowers, but we made sure that no consumer rights would be waived by accepting payment,” remarked Van Hollen. “Nearly two-thirds of eligible borrowers in Wisconsin submitted claim forms, exceeding the national average of 55%. Due to this high response rate, Wisconsin’s share will be $4.6 million higher than initially anticipated.”

A relatively small number of borrowers will not receive a check in the initial mailing or will receive a split payment.

Some borrowers will receive a check for less than the approximate $1,480 payment in situations where borrowers are divorced or separated and no longer live at the same address. The full per-loan amount will be paid on these loans, but the payment will be evenly split between the borrowers.

A small number of borrowers who submitted a claim form but do not have a valid Social Security number on file will be delayed in receiving their payments while tax-related issues are addressed.

Two servicers recently provided information on an additional 31,000 borrowers, and thus they could not be included in this distribution. Later this summer, these consumers will receive a notice and will have the opportunity to submit a payment application.

Payments to borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure are one piece of the landmark settlement announced last year. Wisconsin residents who are in their homes but facing foreclosure have received more than $175 million in loan-related relief. Loan-related relief includes refinancing, principal reduction, mortgage modification offers, second-lien forgiveness, short sales and enhanced transition assistance, among other options to homeowners.

Under the settlement, the banks also agreed to comply with comprehensive servicing standards that govern how the banks handle mortgage loans and foreclosure actions. These standards require better communication with borrowers, a single point of contact with the bank, adequate staffing levels and training, and appropriate standards for executing documents in foreclosure cases. The settlement Monitor will issue his first reports concerning banks' compliance with the settlement's servicing standards later this summer.

Wisconsin residents who have questions about the National Mortgage Settlement are encouraged to contact the Wisconsin Department of Justice at: consumerprotection@doj.state.wi.us, 800-998-0700 or 608-266-1852.

PLEASE NOTE:

National Mortgage Settlement, Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) payments are separate. The IFR settlement is unrelated and separate from the National Mortgage Settlement and does not include the same governmental agencies. The IFR payments began in mid-April of 2013, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that final payments will be mailed in mid-July. For more information on the OCC Independent Foreclosure Review settlement, go to www.OCC.gov and click on Independent Foreclosure Review.

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